Martin has flip-flopped on boatyard

Published 10:13 pm, Saturday, October 3, 2015

To the editor,

I read with interest the article in the Sept. 20 Advocate titled “Martin defends effort on harbor.” Objectively Mayor David Martin has been shown to have done a complete reversal on the controversial boatyard plan. When he ran for mayor in 2013, he came down squarely on the side of the group Save Our Boatyard which opposed the relocation of the proposed new boatyard from the original agreement the city entered into with Building & Land Technology.

The campaign for mayor in 2013 lacked big, controversial issues for the candidates to debate. It is fair to say that the boatyard issue was the most intense and emotional issue of the campaign.

David Martin fell in line with the Save Our Boatyard group and given his narrow victory may have been the reason he won. Soon after he won, reports began to circulate that the mayor felt there should be a change in the agreement regarding the location of the new boatyard. Now it is well known he supports the relocation from the original Yacht Haven site to the Southfield proposed site, he just won’t come out and declare it publicly and make if official.

I don’t know how the mayor thinks he can hide his reversal of position on this issue. After all, a boatyard for several hundred boats is hard to hide from the public for long. He should just get it over with and admit either he was insincere when he sided with the boatyard advocates or was ill-informed.